Meet the Goliath Spider, able to devour whole birds

If you suffer from arachnophobia, this is a pet you won't want to find by accident! Known as the bird-eating Goliath spider, it is native to the northern Brazilian Amazon, Suriname, Venezuela, and Guyana. It is the largest tarantula species in the world - Theraphosa blondi - and the largest arachnid in body mass, and may exceed 30 centimeters! This means that it is about the size of a small pizza.

Incidentally, the name of this spider - "bird eater" - is not just to impress not. Goliath spiders can actually devour whole birds, although their menu is more varied, including insects like crickets, cockroaches and locusts, as well as small lizards, rodents, frogs, bats and even snakes. These tarantulas attack their prey with bites and their poison acts on the central nervous system, paralyzing their victims.

Aggressive behavior

Goliath spider behavior is considered very aggressive, and their bites, despite their poison being not very toxic to humans, can cause nausea, sweating and a lot of pain, and hair on their abdomen and paws can cause a lot of skin irritation. and in the airways. But don't worry, these tarantulas only attack people when they feel threatened, emitting a hiss as a warning sign.

Goliath spiders are nocturnal animals that usually inhabit large burrows that they themselves dig in wooded areas, and females survive an average of 25 years. Males live far less - about a year - and many die during or shortly after mating, poor children. And would you, the reader, have the courage to play with such a pet?

* Originally posted on 11/25/2013.

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